


Gardens Are Where Love Blooms

by Meandsushiroll



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 23:09:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5645254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meandsushiroll/pseuds/Meandsushiroll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Gardener! Nitori<br/>Rin buys a house after winning the olympics and can't handle gardening. He hires the Nitori family's landscaping firm to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gardens Are Where Love Blooms

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a drabble. IT WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE A DRABBLE.  
> I need to just admit to myself that I can't do Rintori drabbles...  
> Anyway I hope you enjoy!

            When Rin moved into the big house his mom had insisted on him buying after he had won gold for the third time, he had no idea how much trouble it would be. His mom had requested a more modest home herself, and he wished he hadn’t listened to her advice. Thinking back in it, she probably thought that if he bought such a big place he would hurry up and fill it with grandchildren. _You have the money Rin-chan_ , she had said, _why not_?

            He really only bought it to make her happy, but he just ended up giving himself grief. He couldn’t handle cleaning all the rooms, so he had to hire a cleaning team. The Olympic indoor pool, while great, was in constant need of maintenance. The house was draftly, the floorboards squeaked, and honestly the architecture was all too _pretty_ for his taste. But really, the worst thing was the damn _yard_.

            His mom had commented more that once how nice it would be for his future children _. Lots space for little ones to play_ , she had said grinning slyly. He didn’t know why she was so insistent; Gou already had two sons for her to dote on and a little girl on the way.

           It was a lot of space though, _way too much_ of it. Between the front landscape and the huge backyard it was almost impossible for him to take care of. Rin would come home from an endorsement meeting or coaching exhausted, with no desire what-so-ever to be out in the sun cutting the grass or raking the leaves or whatever else needed to be done. He tried his best to keep at least the front yard presentable, but he was never any good at this stuff anyway so there was really not much he could do. Gou scolded him the last time she came over with his nephews, heavily pregnant with her third child. _Really Onii-chan! Just hire a gardener!_

            So that he did.

            He was just finishing breakfast when he heard the knock at the door. After some searching, he found a highly recommended landscaping firm that he thought could do the job well. He had met with the owner a few days before, who was actually a fan, and told him he was personally putting his son in charge of his account. They set a time when he could come by to begin their work and Rin left expecting his life to be a little easier from now on.

            What he didn’t expect was to open the door to see a small, frankly _adorable_ man standing before him. He was short, a good head shorter than him, and thin, wearing the pale yellow and navy uniform Rin had seen laborers wear at the firm. He looked like he could pass for a kid, but somehow Rin knew he was older.

            “Um,” the man said, big blue eyes staring up at him a little nervously, “H-hello! I am Nitori Aiichirou. I am here in regards to a landscaping job for Matsuoka Rin.”

            _Oh god even his voice is cute,_ Rin thought, heart beating a little faster. “Yeah, uh, that’s me. Are you a messenger or something?”

            “Oh, no!” he said, his cheeks pinking, “I am the head gardener assigned to this estate. I believe you talked to my father early last week.”

            Rin’s eyebrows shot up. _He_ was his gardener? He certainly had a rather prominent tan, but his smooth, fresh looking face and his small build made him more fit for a host club than rolling around in the dirt.

            “I, um, am just here today to do evaluations and develop a plan for structure and maintenance. I’ll be coming back will my tools and everything on a later date, and maybe a larger team if necessary.”

            “Oh, alright then. Um, you can come in if you like.” Rin moved out the way for the man, _Nitori_ he thought to himself, to enter. He took off his work boots covered in mud and bent down long enough for Rin to see how ill fitting the landscaping uniform was to his body.

            “Would you like some water?” he asked rather loudly, trying to distract himself.

            “Oh no thank you,” Nitori stood up and smiled, making Rin’s heart waver a little. He turned toward his messenger bag, sliding out a binder and skimming over the page he turned to briefly. “You told my father that your primary difficulty is with the backyard.” He said, looking up again. Rin nodded. “Could you please lead me to it? I would like to see where we can start from.”

            Rin nodded again and motioned for Nitori to follow him. “Here it is,” he said as he cleared his throat and opened the back doors facing the yard. “The architect had a vision. I tried to keep it up ever since I bought it, but it’s been kinda…I’m just no good at that stuff.”

            Nitori’s face was unreadable as he looked out, big eyes taking everything in. Rin found himself staring at the man’s eyelashes as they brushed gently against his cheeks. Suddenly he turned his head to face him, making Rin avert is eyes and neck heat.

            “Do you like the way this is laid out?” he said, unaware of Rin’s embarrassment. “Or would you like something different?”

            “Different?”

“Yes, perhaps something more simple. Maybe something easier to maintain?”

            “You can do that?” Rin asked, curiously.

            “Yes!” Nitori responded so enthusiastically it surprised Rin a little. “You have a great space! I can see what the architect wanted to do and it’s lovely, but it does require a lot of care. But the trees here in front are small and young, so they can be easily switched out for more slowly growing kinds that don’t shed so much, and we can put in a wide stone path to reduce the grass square footage. And over there near the older trees we could put a sitting area or even a gazebo. The possibilities are endless!” He finished with a smile, his eyes shining with excitement.

            “Oh. Alright then. Yeah, that sounds good I guess.” Rin said, a little unsure what to think.

            Nitori caught the uncertainty in Rin’s voice and furrowed his brows a bit in concern. It almost came off as a pout, and that was way too damn cute for Rin’s mind to handle. “I-I just don’t know what to expect. I’m not an artistic type.”

            Nitori’s face relaxed and his hand fished into his bag again to bring out a sketchpad. “Don’t worry, we give all our clients several designs before we be start, and of course we want your feed back.” He held out the pad to Rin before continuing, “Here’s some examples of my latest projects, my designs and photographs of the landscape before and after we finished. You are welcome to view them at your leisure. “ Rin took the book in his hands before Nitori pulled out a digital camera, turning to smile at him again. “I would like to take some pictures if that’s alright with you. I’ll need to go out into the yard.”

            “Uh, yeah, sure.” Rin said watching the man bring the camera up to his face and snap a photo. He moved up and down the deck, taking shots from different angles and levels before venturing into the yard itself. He was out there at least 20 minutes, Rin taking the time to go through the design book. It was very impressive, the before and after pictures especially. Rin took solace that his yard wouldn’t be the very worst Nitori had seen, but even in those were transformed beautifully. Nitori’s sketches were so lovely and detailed, he was a true artist.

            “Alright Matsuoka-san, I think I have enough reference material,” he said coming back inside. “I can give you a few design samples by next week. How does that sound?”

            Rin nodded. “That’s fine. I look forward to it,” he tried to return the other man’s smile as he handed him back the sketchpad.

            He led Nitori back to the front door, weirdly nervous for some reason. “So, uh, this is goodbye then?”

            Nitori met his eyes and grinned “For now yes. But I’m your head gardener so we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.”

            Rin felt his heart soar as the words left Nitori’s sweet little mouth. Seeing Nitori again, and often, sounded very appealing. He felt his pulse quicken and his cheeks heat again.

            “So then I guess it would be better to say ‘see you around’?” he said, trying to sound nonchalant.

            Nitori nodded, smile still in place, “Yes! See you around!” he said before bowing and making his way out the door.

            Rin watched him walk away and climb in his car. He did a little ‘I did it!’ gesture inside, unaware that he was being watched. Rin only shut the door when he put the key in the ignition and drove away, thinking that maybe his house wasn’t _so_ bad.

           

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment and tell me your thoughts!  
> I might make a continuation if people are interested


End file.
